


They Were Kids That I Once Knew

by aliahnovna



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, BUT YOU DON'T NEED AN EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE COMICS I PROMISE, F/F, F/M, IT MERGES ASPECTS OF THE MCU AND THE COMICS, M/M, Multi, Natasha Needs a Hug, barney is an idiot but also a wise advice giver, clint kate and sam are avid birdwatchers, clint likes the f word, clint questions everyone's names, clint's internal monologue makes lewd remarks sorry, his mom doesnt, hydra is basically a clique of losers, i dont hate scott summers i promise, i love him thats why im allowed to call him a dick, i seriously can't list them all i'll be here for days, logan compares his and jean's relationship to romeo and juliet, lots of swearing, natasha romanov kicks asses, peter quill is the schools drug dealer, so much happens in this story, the tracksuit bros appear, the x-men are nerds, there are literally a thousand hinted at or briefly mentioned relationships, who is called loki, who names their son groot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-10-01
Packaged: 2018-02-18 21:45:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2363231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliahnovna/pseuds/aliahnovna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint Barton is just a struggling high school loser new kid with a love for birds and good aim.<br/>Natasha Romanov is the object of Clint's affections.<br/>Bucky Barnes is Natasha's boyfriend.<br/>Steve Rogers is Bucky's enemy.<br/>Sam Wilson is Steve's BFF.<br/>Tony Stark is what he likes to call 'a guiding light in the hallways of an uncivilized race'.<br/>Bruce Banner is tired.<br/>Thor is a jock who loves his life and his brother and his girlfriend.</p><p>High school is hard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Clint Starts School

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Middletown: A Study of Suburban Life](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1926372) by [M_Leigh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/M_Leigh/pseuds/M_Leigh). 



At some point in the past, someone decided that being the new kid meant being infinitely more uncool than any other person ever. Even that weird kid in the Ornithologists Club.

Now, imagine being the new kid  _and_  being the president of the Ornithologists Club at your old high school

You're not cool.

And at SHIELD High, Clint Barton was not cool.

And it was only his first day.

"Move it, bro."

Clint was walking down the hallway, coming out of the office where Principle – no, no,  _Director_  ( _who the hell calls themselves the director?_ ) Fury had given him his schedule and told him not to misbehave.

He was looking down, wondering how the hell he was supposed to find a Selvig's Physics class, when he'd been pushed.

Now, Clint's not a small guy. Not by any means.

And at his old school, nobody had ever messed with him on reputation alone (Barney Barton was infamous, especially after he'd run away to join the circus), and his relaxed nature, combined with a perfect aim using a slingshot, meant that people generally stayed out of his way.

So this… he wasn't used to this.

While he was no wallflower, and never sat back when someone was being hurt, he at least had  _some_  self-preservation, so he let it slide. He didn't know these guys, and they didn't know him. He was kind of slow, blocking the hallway, he guessed.

They passed him, a group of guys, all wearing nearly matching tracksuits, shouting the word 'bro' out every five seconds, and, were they…?

Were they Russian?

Every single one of them?

He was staring after the tracksuits when he noticed some people lingering at the back, clearly part of the group, with the way they walked and made the odd comment, but not wearing tracksuits, and, if Clint was being honest, they were rolling their eyes a lot.

But that's not what he was  _really_  looking at.

He was looking at  _her._

She was the most beautiful girl – no, woman – he had ever seen.

She was small, but her legs went on forever. Her curves were obvious, and in  _all_  the right places. To top it all off, her hair was a mess of bright red curls, bouncing as she walked.

And her face.

Her entire face was crafted by God, himself.

Bright green eyes, high cheekbones, and the most kissable lips Clint had ever seen.

He wanted to marry this girl, right here, right now, at the age of sixteen, and he didn't even know her name.

Just as she passed, she turned her head, catching his eyes, and smirked.

She smirked.

He died.

"Natalia," The guy next to her muttered, making her look up. He put his arm around her shoulders, steering her with the group, looking back to glare at Clint.

And that guy, he was scary.

He looked like a freaking assassin.

And he was nothing if not protective over Natalia.

Now that was a name he could see himself getting tattooed to his face in the foreseeable future.

The bell rang, and Clint grunted, moving off to continue looking for the physics lab.

* * *

"Nice of you to join us."

Clint nodded in greeting as he entered the classroom and handed the teacher the paper Fury had given him.

"Ah, new… Class, this is a new student," He turned to Clint, "Introduce yourself."

"Clint Barton."

"And I'm Dr Selvig, as I'm sure you know, and you may take a seat anywhere you'd like," He gestured to the room, not looking away from the work in front of him.

Clint nodded again, even though Selvig wouldn't see, before turning and looking at the class.

A huge blonde guy sitting at the front of the room grinned at him, but the seat beside him was occupied by a tiny girl who was staring intensely at a Physics textbook. She was  _actually reading_ it. Weird.

Then, at the opposite table, there was a very good looking guy who smirked like he knew it, chatting away to a shy guy who seemed to be listening, while simultaneously looking like he wanted to be anywhere else.

Then there were the two  _nice_  boys, one who had bright blonde hair and bright blue eyes and wore a t-shirt that was four sizes too small over huge muscles, but grinned a white smile that made  _Clint_  want to take him home to his parents. The other looked just as nice, except his shirt actually fit him, even though he was pretty buff too. They both smiled at him, and Blondie even gave him a little wave as he passed.

Wow, if Clint hadn't fallen deeply in love with Natalia ten minutes ago, he would be a thousand and ten percent gay right now.

At the table next to theirs, sat a guy and a girl, who looked to be in an argument. The guy had headphones dangling around his neck, and curly auburn hair, and the girl had black hair with pink and green in it. They were both hot, but the girl scared Clint when she looked at him.

At the next row there was a free seat, so Clint sat down before even looking at the person next to him. He turned his head and saw a black haired guy glaring at nothing in particular, wearing an all green ensemble.

Way to make a statement.

"Hey," Clint said.

"What?" The guy snapped.

Clint raised his hands in defense and looked away. The guys from the table in front turned around to face him.

"Don't mind Loki," Blondie said.

Loki? LOKI? No wonder this kid had issues.

"Yeah, he's just mad 'cause Thor's got a girlfriend and he doesn't."

"Shut up," Loki -  _Loki_  - said.

"I'm Steve, and this is Sam," Blondie said, holding his hand out. Clint shook his hand, then Sam's.

"Clint."

"We heard," Sam chuckled.

Selvig had started to talk, and Steve looked back briefly, but, deciding that what he was saying was irrelevant, turned back.

"The front desk is Thor and his girlfriend, Jane, next to them is Tony Stark-"

"Stark? As in Howard Stark?" Clint's jaw dropped. No wonder Tony was smirking. He would be too if his dad was  _the_  name in renewable energy.

"-And Bruce Banner. They're both geniuses and they're best friends."

"And then you have us and Peter and Gamora-"

Gamora's head snapped up, her eyes in a glare, but Peter merely waved, before moving to put a headphone back in. Seemingly soothed by the action, Gamora smiled, a toothless grin that made Clint feel just as uneasy, and then turned back.

"Behind you is Schmidt and Zola, don't talk to them-"

"Shut it, Rogers."

Clint turned behind to see a red faced guy and a small guy, both glaring at Steve and Sam.

"Go away, Johann."

"Don't- Don't call me that. It's  _Red Skull_. Why can't you call me Red Skull?" He went even redder faced, and Clint was kind of worried he'd explode.

"Anyway, then you have Brock Rumlow… and…" Steve trailed off, looking away from the table, before eventually turning his whole body around to Sam.

Sam picked up on the distress and leaned in.

"And Bucky Barnes… they're dicks, dude, don't talk to them either."

Clint turned to see the two guys staring at them. Glaring at them, actually.

They had both been in the Bro-Squad this morning, and the one with long hair had been Natalia's friend.

Clint turned back around as Sam started speaking.

"They're in the mafia."

"Mafia?"

"Yeah, some Russian dudes transferred here in the eighth grade and formed a mini mafia with this Russian chick who no one had ever spoke to before. Rumlow joined when Pierce joined a few years back… Barnes went last semester."

"Can we not discuss Bucky Barnes?" Steve whispered, turning the full way around.

Sam shrugged and turned around as well, leaving Clint alone with  _Loki_ , who was still glaring.

"I hate you," Loki seethed. Clint shook his head and opened his textbook, trying to catch up with what Selvig was saying.

* * *

By lunch, Clint had been in Erskine’s history with Steve, Schmidt and Zola, and boy, could they debate history trivia. He also had Hill's English with Sam, and no classes with Natalia.

This sucked, as she was already his obsession, even if he couldn't exactly remember her face – more of the idea of it.

He entered the lunch room and could immediately see the clique system.

Thor, Loki, Jane, Jane's weird friend Darcy (who had sat next to him during Biology and complained about Coulson – SHIELD's Vice Principle – taking her iPod), and Thor's weirder friends, who talked loudly, and often about being warriors, sat at the table nearest the food.

Schmidt and Zola, and a bunch of random losers – including Rumlow – sat at a table, laughing at racist jokes and probably recommending rash cream to their red-faced leader.

Tony Stark –  _Tony Stark! –_  and Bruce Banner sat together, across from Pepper Potts, who was in his Math class -  _who_   _was not and would never_   _date Tony_ ,  _ever_! Tony’s best friend who wasn’t Bruce, Rhodey (who Clint liked, because he was normal) sat with them too, rolling his eyes at Tony’s comments/

The X-Freaks or whatever they called themselves – because they did, Erik had told him – sat together, not even really speaking, because a lot of them weren't actually friends. Jean and Scott spoke, Erik talked to Charles, even though Charles was ignoring him and talking to Hank.

Peter and Gamora's  _weird_  friendship group were together, arguing, as they clearly did  _all_  of the time.

The Mafia – AND NATALIA – sat at the back of the room, throwing food around and acting like animals. Bucky Barnes looked indifferent, but sat with an arm around Natalia (no, Clint was not scowling). Natalia – so pretty – looked appropriately disgusted at the Mafia.

Clint would never (probably never) act like that around Natalia. He would never make her feel uncomfortable. He would never eat like  _that_  in front of her.

No matter how he ate normally at this current moment in time.

"Clint!" He turned to see Steve waving him over. As he walked over, he heard Schmidt's booming laughter and extremely homophobic comment, which had him sent to Fury's office with a loud grunt and a glare at Steve.

"He is such freak," Sam shook his head.

Clint agreed.

"So, hey," Clint said, sitting down, his back turned to Natalia.  _Annoying_.

"What's up?" Sam asked.

"Not much, you guys?"

"We're fine-" Sam started to say.

"We're  _fine_ ," Steve said sarcastically.

"Steve-" Sam physically winced.

"Why don't you just go and sit right on Bucky's lap? Huh? That's where you want to be, clearly! Go!" Steve was whisper yelling.

"You're being ridiculous!" Sam said, in a perfectly normal voice.

"I can't believe you," Steve growled, standing up. He stormed out of the room. Sam jumped up.

"Later, man," He slapped Clint's shoulder, before running after Steve.

Clint turned to watch them go, and caught Bucky staring after them.

Yes, everyone was watching them… but Bucky was different. He looked a little  _hurt_.

But, hey, Clint didn't even know the guy. Maybe that was just his face-

And he's looking at Clint, and glaring.

And now the Mafia is looking at Clint, and glaring.

And  _Natalia_  is looking at Clint, almost bemused.

Because Clint is staring at them.

And he can't look away.

He is  _looking_ , isn't he?

To be honest, Clint would punch himself right now if no one else was gonna, because he is just staring.

He jumped up before the Mafia could kick his ass – in front of Natalia, no less – and walked out at a brisk pace. He was  _not_  running.

* * *

He went to his locker and stuffed the lunch his mom had packed inside, shutting it again.

"Holy fuck!" He yelled as a girl appeared around the other side.

"What?" She sneered, leaning on the locker beside his.

"Who are you?"

"Kate Bishop," She turned around and opened the locker next to his, "You're new."

"Yeah?"

"You're a Sophomore."

"Yeah, are you?"

"Nah, Freshman."

"You're awful confident for a Freshman."

"Sorry, should I burst into tears because a loser Sophomore with no friends speaks to me?"

"You're mean."

"I'm honest," She took out books, and then turned to him, "But I'll be your friend, if you want."

"Um…" He looked at her. Pretty hot, in a not-Natalia sort of way. Nice face, blue eyes, black hair. Plus, she was wearing purple, just like him!

"The offer expires in-"

"Okay," He held his hand out, "Clint Barton."

* * *

Gym was not fun.

Most of the Mafia, Barnes, Natalia (heart eyes), Rumlow, Pierce (huge dick, that guy), Schmidt, Zola, Steve, Sam, Thor, Thor's friend Sif, Loki, Peter Quill, Gamora, some of their friends, some x-men (seriously?), Stark, Banner, Rhodey and Pepper were in that class. Their teacher was Melinda May, and while she was pretty small and innocent looking, that woman was scary as  _fuck_.

They'd done laps and climbed the rope. Clint was pretty good, considering his upper body strength was better than good.

Sam almost got to the top. Bucky got even closer. Steve climbed the full thing, with a scowl the whole time. Clint had applauded. No one else had.

Natalia reached farther than Clint had, which made him blush, but then she reached farther than Bucky had, and honestly seemed to stop caring when she got down, not even tired.  _Bored_.

A lot of people did quite well, except for Loki, who refused. Tony, who got a little way up and burst into tears when he looked down and saw how far he was from the ground (not even far), though he denies it. Bruce got as far as Tony, and just looked too shy to want to continue.

Zola did practically nothing before giving up. No one laughed, except the Mafia, who were clearly allowed to.

Natalia moved to sit on a bench while Peter Quill had his turn, and Clint made to follow, but was blocked by  _Pepper_  of all people.

Apparently they were friends.

No one had thought to tell Clint.

(Clint had told no one he was in love with Natalia and it was only his first day, so he was hardly expected to know all of her friends… but  _still_ ).

He was pathetic.

* * *

 

Steve Rogers hated Bucky Barnes. 

His reasoning was simple:

Bucky Barnes was a jackass. 

Way back in first grade, when Steve had been in a fight with a bully who’s name he can’t even remember anymore, Bucky Barnes had been the first to come over and help Steve win. 

(The term ‘help’ is used lightly).

They’d been inseparable, joining forces with a group of kids who loved saving innocent playground victims as much as Captain America (they were five, shut up) did. 

 Named by the X-Men, the Howling Commandos were unstoppable…

Until two years ago. 

That’s when Steve met _Peggy_. 

Now, you may he’s overexageratting, first love and all, but he’s not.

Peggy Carter is the most beautiful woman that could ever exist. 

With a sophisticated English accent, short perfectly waved chocolate brown locks, matching huge brown eyes, perfectly painted red lips and red nail polish to match, she was perfect, and she liked Steve, even when he was little. 

They’d met in the library, where Steve would go when Bucky was at soccer practice with the other Commandos (Steve wanted to join, but Coach said no). Peggy was a Senior and Steve was a Freshman (everyone had mocked them, especially since Peggy towered over him in her heels, but they didn’t care). 

So, yeah, maybe it was _kinda_ Steve’s fault that Bucky left, but it wasn’t all on him! 

So, yeah, maybe he’d spent a little more time with Peggy than his friends, but that didn’t matter. Maybe when Peggy had introduced him to the guy she was tutoring, Sam, he started to hang out with him more, but that didn’t mean he didn’t still like his friends.

Then, suddenly, he went to sit with the Howling Commandos one day (Peggy was working on a paper and Sam was doing some sort of club meeting), and Bucky wasn’t there. 

_ “Where’s Buck?”  _ Steve had asked, looking at his friends. Dernier and Jones shared a look, before looking to Morita, who sighed and looked up at Steve.

_ “He’s been hanging with the Mafia for a while now.” _

_ “What?” _

Steve had laughed, and glanced over, only to feel his smile fall. 

Bucky was sitting at the Mafia’s table, Natasha Romanov, the odd Russian girl who stole his phone in their first Art class together and sent herself all of his personal details, before giving it back, was sitting on his lap. Steve liked Natasha, honestly, he did, but… they didn’t go together.

At all.

Yeah, they were both really, really, really attractive (from an artist’s perspective, obviously), and yeah, the red in her hair bounced off of the red star he’d stitched into his leather jacket (Steve gave him that jacket), and yeah, she fit perfectly into his arms, and yeah, he desperately wanted to draw them together…

But, no.

Bucky avoided him constantly every time he tried to talk to him, but finally, Steve traced him to behind the school, smoking. He’d coughed accidentally, making Bucky jump.

“ _What the fu-?”_ Bucky spun around, hands up, but dropped them when he saw Steve, “ _What do you want?”_

“ _You smoke now?”_

“ _Yeah, what do you care?”_ Bucky put his cigarette in his mouth and fixed his jacket, sliding a hand in his hair. It was getting longer, and he’d stopped slicking it back like he was born seventy years ago.

“ _Well, if you want to smoke, you smoke, I’m not gonna stop you.”_

_ “Obviously.” _

_ “Excuse me?” _

_ “Go away, Rogers,” _ He took a drag, before stubbing it out on a dumpster, “ _Isn’t Peggy looking for you?”_

He was grinning, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and his voice was mocking.

_ “Buck-“ _

_ “You haven’t spoken to any of us in four months and now, what? Peggy dump you?” _

_ “What? Buck, I don’t understand why you’re angry.” _

_ “Of course you don’t! And you won’t, until Peggy finds someone new and you’re left with no one because you ditched everyone for her!” _

_ “Bucky! Don’t you dare talk about Peggy that way-!” _

_ “What’re you gonna do about it, Rogers?”  _ Bucky came up close to him, towering over him slightly less than he did last time they spoke. 

_ “Stop it, Bucky.” _

“ _I get why you ditched us, Stevie, I really do,”_ He stepped forward, Steve taking one back, “ _Pretty girl like that lifts her skirt-“_

“ _Bucky!”_

Steve pushed him, but Bucky just pushed back, smushing their faces together, his lips pressing into Steve’s, before he pulled away, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth, laughing lightly.

_ “Goodbye, Rogers.” _

If Steve stuck around after, leaning against the dumpsters, catching his breath, he’d never admit it. 

And then it’d been summer, and Steve had grown to be taller than Sam (Sam screamed when Steve had arrived at his house that morning).

Peggy had broken up with him before going to England to visit her family before college started. It’d been a really sweet breakup, they’d both cried and held onto each other for an hour after, then agreed to be best friends still. 

Then he’d put his sad energy into working out. Sam had screamed then too, when after a month of not seeing him, Steve had been almost as buff as him.

_ “How did you do this in a month? It took me sixteen years to get this definition!” _

Then Steve had gotten buffer than Sam.

Then school had started, and Bucky Barnes had glared at him all day, and sat next to Rumlow in Physics.

So, yeah.

Steve Rogers hated Bucky Barnes. 

* * *

A month passed by at SHIELD High, and Clint spent most of his time with Kate, unless she was with her friends. He  _would not_ spend time with a group of freshman. One was bad enough, but Kate was awesome. She was exactly like him, in a less human-disaster-y sort of way. She liked archery, and birds (hawks were her favorite, just like him, and she pretended she didn't fangirl over the news that a rare hawk had been spotted in their town, just like him) and purple things. They got on really well.

He sometimes hung out with Steve and Sam, but they were really close friends, so they had their inside jokes ("On your left!" "Oh, Steve, I can't breathe, you're so funny!") and their arguments (usually over Bucky Barnes).

He had made a few acquaintances, and even though Loki hated him, he was always by himself around the back of the school, and always let Clint eat lunch there.

Natalia continued to evade him. Wait, no, that sounds creepy.

Clint had tried to speak to Natalia, but she was  _always_  surrounded by people.

If it wasn't the Mafia, it was Barnes. If it wasn't Barnes, it was Pepper. If it wasn't Pepper, it was  _Steve_.

His friend.

Clint had kept meaning to bring it up to Steve, but in amidst the inside jokes and the ranting about Bucky Barnes (seriously, that guy talked about Barnes more than Clint's internal dialogue talked about Natalia), he hadn't had the chance.

And then, wow, Natalia had appeared in his English class, handed Hill a slip of paper, smiled at Sam, and _-_

Sat. Next. To. Clint.

Okay, well, she sat in the only free seat, right between his window seat and Scott Summers (dick).

"Hey."

What. The. Fuck?

He turned his head. She was looking at him.

 _Smiling_  at him.

"Hey!" He grinned, sitting up.

Damn it, Barton.

He cleared his throat, "Um, hey… 'sup?"

A thousand times worse.

He glanced back at her and she was looking down at her desk, a smirk on her face.

So much worse.

"Hi."

"You said that already," She looked back up.

God, she was even prettier up close.

"I didn't know you were in this class."

Why did he say that?! Now she knew that he knew her even though they'd never spoken. He was officially that creepy guy who stares at her in hallway and cries about her when he goes to sleep (he doesn't cry about her, but he does think about her in bed every night – he is a teenage boy, don't judge him).

"I just transferred in from Russian. The teacher isn't even fluent and he used the wrong tense three times last week," She looked visibly annoyed at this, before her face fell back into perfect composure.

"Oh… you speak Russian?"

You're an idiot. Her best friend's – all of her friends, except Pepper and Steve- are Russian. She just said that the teacher was wrong and she knew that. Her surname is Romanova.

"Mm hm," She didn't seem to care that he was an idiot, and maybe this worked in his favor – he might've seemed less obsessed.

(He didn’t).

"Cool."

"Well, I'm from Russia originally, so it'd be kind of bad if I didn't know how to speak it," She smirked again, looking back at him, playfully (he hoped) mocking him. He grinned.

"You're accent-"

"Yeah, my uncle made sure my accent wasn't too strong. Kids make fun of those who are different," She looked up at him, her eyes saying something her calm face wasn't.

"I know what-"

He wanted to reassure her that he  _got_  her, after all, he had been the kid who talked with his hands more than he talked with words because he took his hearing aids out a lot when he was little. He couldn't, though, because Hill had stood up, and Natalia's face had fallen into one of indifference again.

Clint sighed a little, sitting back in his seat, glancing back at her every so often, but receiving nothing back. He opened his book and tried to catch up to whatever Hill was talking about.


	2. Clint Reveals A Secret And Ruins Some Lives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint tells a secret and makes more than a couple of people cry, but it's okay because it was also so funny that Fury laughed when Hill told him what happened.   
> Natasha continues to be an enigma.  
> Bucky is angsty.  
> Steve is angsty.  
> Sam is angsty.  
> Tony continues to be the most glamorous student at SHIELD High with his fabulous assistant, Bruce.  
> Pepper is not angry that she didn't get chosen to be the assistant.

"What do you know about Natalia Romanova?" Clint asked Sam and Steve at lunch.

"More than you," Sam smirked. Clint glared.

"Leave her alone, Clint," Steve sighed, "She's with Buck- Barnes."

"Her name is Natasha Romanoff, idiot," Sam laughed, ignoring Steve, who glared at him.

"No, it's not."

"The _Russian's_ call her by her Russian name, but everyone else calls her by the American version."

"What does she prefer?"

"She prefers the Russian's calling her by her Russian name and everyone else calling her the American one," Sam laughed. Steve scowled. Clint was unamused.

"So, you're friends?" Clint turned to Steve.

"Kind of… but she's dating Barnes, so we don't talk much. She's in my Art class."

"What do you have against Bucky Barnes?" Clint asked, laughing. He hated Barnes, but that was more out of jealously that anything else.

"He's a jerk and I hate everything about him," Steve seethed, Clint went to respond, but Steve didn't stop, "I hate his stupid face and his stupid long hair. Who has shoulder length hair? It's not 1985!"

"Steve-"

"And what is he wearing? Why is he wearing leather? It looks weird on him… clings to his arms all weirdly."

"Uh-"

"And his _laugh_! It's so loud and obnoxious! God, I hate that guy! He's always like ' _look at me, I'm funny and attractive and I have everything going for me'_!"

"Steve," Clint finally spoke as Steve paused for breath, "Dude, you are in love with him."

All the color drained out of Steve's face, and then he went bright red. Sam stopped laughing and just stared at Clint.

"N-No. I don't," Steve stammered, becoming redder by the minute.

"You do."

"I-I'm not-"

"You don't think you're straight, do you? You're gay, Steve, sorry."

"I'm bi; actually, I had a girlfriend last year who moved away-!"

"You're… in love… in love with Barnes?" Sam's head snapped to Steve, who made eye contact, then looked down.

"You are," Clint smirked. He loved it stuff like this. Now Steve was free to go up to Barnes and have angry sex-

"I'm dating you, Sam."

Clint froze the smile on his face dropping.

"What?" Clint asked, monotone.

Wow, Barton.

"You're in love with Barnes."

"N-No… I'm dating you, Sam."

"But are you in love with me?"

Silence.

"Wow," Sam stood up.

"Sam, no, Sam!" Steve grabbed Sam's arm, but he was shook off.

"You can go date Barnes, for all I care, Rogers!" Sam snapped, _loudly_. He stormed out, everyone's eyes moving from him to Steve when he left.

Fuck.

Steve stood frozen for a minute, looking at everyone around the room.

Scott Summers was laughing. _Dick_. Peter Quill had a hand over his mouth and looked at Gamora, who was smirking. Kate's friend, Tommy, was practically squealing, so Kate smacked him. Stark started a slow clap.

People joined in.

Bucky Barnes did not join in.

Steve walked out, very quickly, very red.

"Barton, care to comment?" Tony asked, laughing as Steve got caught on the pull door, trying to push his way through.

"Uh… yeah… you're a dick," He followed his friends out, not looking back once.

* * *

"So, it's your fault," Kate said, as they lay under a tree on the school grounds.

"Yeah."

"Well, then, was Stark _really_ the dick here?"

"Kate."

"What? I like him… our dad's our friends."

"Exactly how rich are you?"

"You're my friend because I'm amazing, not because I could buy you a Porsche for your birthday."

"Christmas is sooner."

She punched him.

It hurt.

"When're you gonna leave Natasha alone?"

"Never."

"Freak."

"I'm in love, Katie-Kate."

"Never call me that again, and, I'll say it again. Freak."

* * *

It was the worst thing to ever happen to anyone, Steve was certain of that. 

He was sitting in the art supplies closet, knees tucked against his chest, his eyes wide.

He’d looked for Sam, but after ten minutes and no such luck, Steve made eye contact with someone who’d been in the cafeteria when it happened and decided he could never see Sam again.

Clint was an idiot.

Steve did not love Bucky Barnes.

He hated him.

Though he knew exactly what both his mom and Peggy would say:

“There’s a thin line between love and hate.”

When Steve was small, he’d probably pick a fight (he wouldn’t admit that he was looking for a fight though, because then when he was just being nice people would think the worst of him), but now he was huge and the only person he could fight without hurting would be Gamora, and he wasn’t feeling suicidal.

Yet.

He imagined he would once he saw Bucky Barnes, and he  blushed  because Bucky would laugh, just like he always did when he could make Steve blush.

Steve remembered when they were thirteen and Bucky was sleeping over and Steve’s house. He was supposed to sleep on the floor but was currently sitting up on Steve’s bed,  on Steve, trying to get him to stay up.

“ _ Stevie!” _

_ “Buck, I’m tired.” _

_ “I’m not.” _

He emphasized this by throwing his weight up in a way that he knew would make Steve feel winded if he did it more than the once. 

Steve mumbled angry words as he got up and sat opposite Bucky. 

Bucky started rambling, trying to think of something that would capture Steve’s attention. 

Steve ended up drifting off sitting up, so Bucky settled for tickling him viciously.

They tumbled onto the floor, freezing for a second, trying to determine if Steve’s mom would investigate the noise. 

When nothing happened, Bucky started again, his weight on top of Steve’s holding him down all over, which wasn’t difficult, since Bucky had hit a growth spurt and Steve was the size of a praying mantis. 

“ _Buck! Stop!”_

He finally stilled his hands, his body still on top of Steve’s. He looked away from Steve’s face, before looking back at him.

_ “Buck? What’s wrong?” _

_ “Connie tried to kiss me today.” _

_ “What?”  _

Bucky moved off of Steve, sitting cross legged in front of him. Steve sat up and did the same.

He shouldn’t have really been shocked. Connie and her friends spent most of their time giggling and looking at them on the playground. 

Maybe it was because Bucky kept telling him that they were blushing about Steve, but he’d never really believed that, so he wasn’t too sure.

_ “We were sitting together at the park ‘cause her friends left so we could have a date. She just laid it on me.” _

_ “What was it like?” _

_ “I don’t know, I didn’t  do anything. I didn’t want her to think I sucked, but I think I do.” _

_ “How would you know if you never kissed anybody, Buck?” _

_ “I don’t know, I just think I’d been really suckish at it, you know?” _

_ “Nah, you’ll be fine, I’ll be sucky. Sucky Steve.” _

_ “Sucky Bucky.” _

They laughed a little, but Bucky still seemed sad.

_ “Buck?” _

_“I don’t know, Stevie,_ ” Bucky glanced up and then back down, “ _ I need practice.” _

_ “Then you should practice on Connie instead of being a jerk.” _

_ “You’re a punk.” _

_ “I try.” _

_ “Nah, Steve, I mean… I should practice before I kiss Connie .”  _

He was staring at the carpet so hard Steve was worried his mom was gonna find a burn mark in it tomorrow morning.

“ _ What? Like a pillow?”  _

_ “Nah…” _

_ “An apple?” _

_ “No.” _

_ “I don’t know then Buck? Maybe just use your hand.”  _

_ “Steve.”  _

_ “What?” _

_ “You need practice too.” _

_ “No I don’t.” _

_ “You do.” _

_ “No one is ever gonna be kissing me, so no I don’t.” _

_ “Steve, kiss me.”  _

_ “Bucky… that’s… you know.” _

_ “No it’s not. We’re friends, and we both like girls.”  _

_ “Brock Rumlow would say we’re-“ _

_ “Brock Rumlow is a dick-pancake and he’s not here right now.” _

_ “Buck…” _

_ “Trust me, Steve, it’s okay. Guys do this all the time for practice. I hear Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr do it.” _

_ “And everyone says their gay.” _

_ “That’s ‘cause Erik told everyone about it. I promise, no one’s gonna know about it, so then it’s not gay.” _

_ “I don’t know if that’s how gay works, Buck .” _

_ “ It is .” _

_ “ Oh .” _

_ “ Shut up and kiss me, Stevie.” _

Steve blushed at the memory and groaned.

His first kiss had been Bucky Barnes and then several after had been Bucky Barnes. 

They’d kissed in the morning as well, then on Saturday, in Bucky’s bedroom, then on Sunday, back in Steve’s room, this time lying on the bed, then once again when Bucky was about to go home. They’d gone to the janitor’s closet in school and kissed there, Bucky’d put his hand up Steve’s shirt at the back one time and it was really nice. Then the next sleepover at Bucky’s, he’d kissed his neck.

They’d kissed again in the janitor’s closet at school on Monday before Bucky had been due to kiss Connie. 

Then Bucky’d kissed Connie and he hadn’t needed Steve anymore.

And the next time he would kiss Steve would be when he was being a jerk behind the school.

That was where Loki hung out now, and where he’d probably be able to hide for today, until he managed to find a decent hiding place in school, somewhere neither Bucky nor Sam would wanna be. 

He groaned and hid his head in his knees.

Steve did not love Bucky Barnes.

* * *

Clint had been at SHIELD for two and a half months when Happy, Coach May's unglamorous assistant, announced they'd be playing dodgeball.

Now, Clint was sharp and fast and pretty good at aiming (he was amazing), but that did not prepare him for this.

Schmidt protected Zola and went after Steve, who was also being targeted by Sam, and _Barnes_. Clint would think it was an immature way of dealing with someone you dislike, except Bucky was grinning a friendly smile, which Steve returned one time, when he caught his ball.

Clint did laugh, because he's 12 years old and innuendos are his life.

The X-Men (so much second hand embarrassment) aimed for anyone who weren't them (he's sure he heard Xavier refer to them as the Avengers (?)) and half the time they acted like they were playing pretend.

Erik kept holding his hand up and pretending to move the metal stands in front of the players. Raven did jumps and splits that were way too dramatic for gym class. Summers kept pressing the side of his glasses (shades indoors – dick) and making a 'pew' noise. Charles was pretending to use his brain to block the balls, until one hit him in the face and Hank McCoy had to walk him to the nurse’s office.

The Russians aimed for _Clint_.

"Yo, bro!" One yelled, hurling a ball straight at his head, which he managed to avoid.

"Yeah, bro!" Another threw one, then another, then another, followed by a chorus of 'bro!'. Clint dodged them and hid behind Gamora.

"Go away," She snapped, catching every ball that came near her and passing them to Rocket (who, despite being very small, threw with a scary amount of force).

"I need help!"

"Ask Groot."

Groot. There is a child named Groot at this school. Worse than Loki, probably.

"Groot, help!" Clint yelled, retreating behind the giant, who was really just copying Rocket.

"I am Groot."

"What?"

Just as Clint stopped to stare up at him, a ball collided with his face, knocking him to the ground.

"Bro!" One of the guys yelled, laughing.

Clint stood up and looked at everyone, trying to see which bro had thrown it.

"Sorry," Natasha smirked.

"It's okay," Clint chuckled, trying not to cry. He glanced back to see Natasha glaring at the laughing bros, even though she had laughter in her eyes when she looked back at him.

Yeah, he was in deep.

* * *

Another week passed, and Clint had spent all of his time with Kate, due to the fact that Steve was now spending all of his time in the gym, or hanging with a _very_ weird group of people (nicknamed by the X-Men as the Howling Commandos (FREAKS)), and Sam had disappeared.

"Man, where you been?" Clint asked, sitting down in English, before Natasha could come in. He turned to Sam's seat, behind him.

"I'd rather not say," Sam blushed and looked out of the window.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means he's been in bird club and he's too embarrassed to tell anyone."

Natasha.

"Bird club?"

"Ornithologists club. I'm president. Shut up," Sam looked down.

Clint could hear Natasha laughing, but for the first time, he didn't care about what she thought, "No way. I was president at my old school!"

"You playing me?"

"No!"

"Favorite bird?"

"Hawk, you?"

"Falcon."

"Respect."

"You should join!"

"Please don't," Natasha said, sounding exhausted. Clint turned back to her to see a disgusted expression, but amusement filled her eyes.

"You know what, Sam? I'll take you up on that offer."

"Oh god," Natasha rolled her eyes and turned forward.

"Nice, man! I'll text you the details of the meetings. It's not every lunch but… but I, uh, I do presidential work… at… at lunch."

"Mm hmm," Clint turned forward as Hill started her lesson.

After Hill had taught half of her lesson, she stood at the front of the room, holding a notebook and a pen.

"Okay, class, time to partner up and do class projects," She opened her notepad, "Tell me who you're with and I’ll give you a section of the book to study.”

"Yo, Barton!" Sam said, loudly, over the noise of the crowd, gathering his stuff together.

He turned to Sam, but felt a small tap on his shoulder.

He turned back to see Natasha looking at him with a small smile. He look back to Sam.

"Sorry."

"She will never love you," He hissed, moving over to Sharon Carter, who was rolling her eyes at Rumlow’s offer to partner up.

"Hey," Clint murmured as Natasha indicated for him to move closer to her.

"Hello. I'm Natasha Romanoff," She held her hand out.

He took it, suddenly aware that his palms were really, really, really sweaty.

He was also suddenly aware that they had never formally introduced themselves - their relationship had consisted of smirks and grins and small remarks that usually involved Sam.

"Clint Barton."

Her hand was soft and a little cold, completely dry.

She didn't seem to notice/care that his palm was Niagara Falls, which made him love her even more.

Hill gave them page numbers to study and make notes on, before moving on.

"Do you have a preference on which aspects to study?”

“Huh?”

“Literary devices or plot points?”

“Um, neither? I mean… both?”

“Okay, we’ll just do both together…” She smiled, “Since you’re clearly struggling,” Her face moved into a smirk as she gestured to the scribbled sections in his notes.

"Harsh."

"Not harsh," She looked back, and smirked again, "Russian."

* * *

"Bishop!"

"Go away."

Clint followed Kate outside to the tree, where she climbed up to a low branch. He climbed to a lower one, and looked up at her.

"Hey."

"Why are you smiling?" Kate took his lunch out of his hands and began to sort it into a pile of stuff she liked and stuff she didn't.

"I have Natasha Romanoff's number."

"Ginger Russian?"

"Hell yeah."

"Nice."

"Thank you."

"How'd you manage that when she's dating Mysterious Stud?"

"Please don't refer to Barnes that way."

"He's hot."

"Katie, please."

"He is."

"You're nine."

"Fuck off."

"Anyway, it's irrelevant."

"See, I disagree," She handed back some of his food and some of her own, "'Cause, way I see it, she's not the type to do you when she's doing him-"

"You're nine, don't be vulgar."

"-So you're all out of luck, 'cause I saw them sucking face this morning."

"It's for a project."

"You're embarrassing."

"She asked me to be her partner."

"Clint?" Kate looked down, avoiding his eyes, eating her half of his sandwich.

"Katie?" He was a little worried. She never looked like this. She was all snark and purple headbands.

"If you marry Natasha can I marry Bucky?"

He threw his apple at her head.

Tommy Shepherd appeared out of nowhere and caught it.

She pushed Tommy out of the tree, and then smacked Clint.

It hurt.

Kate said he cried. He said she's a liar.

Kate Bishop is no liar.

* * *

"Falcon punch!" Sam's weird friend Riley threw a punch at Clint.

They had known each other for ten seconds.

"What's your favorite bird, Kate?" Sam asked. Kate rolled her eyes and sat back.

"Why am I here?"

"Because you care about me," Clint muttered, watching Sam and Riley examining diagrams of a falcon's wingspan.

"I thought you _liked_ birds, Clint."

"I do, but not like this. I like sitting in trees and watching whatever comes, not calculating mating seasons."

At least Kate laughed.

"You're a disorganized bird watcher, Barton."

"Yeah, we care," Riley indicated between them.

Kate leaned close and whispered in Clint's ear.

"Y'ever notice how Riley is buff, blonde and tall?"

"Huh?"

"He's basically Steve."

"You think Sam's projecting onto Riley?"

"No, I think he's projecting onto Steve. Pretty sure this is my new OTP."

"So, we'll meet next week, and by then we want your favorite bird, Kate."

Kate sighed and stood up, grabbing her bag. Clint followed her out.

"I like birds, but not like they like birds. I'm too cool for this."

"You're a freshman, you're not cool."

"Cooler than you."

"Fuck off."

"Love you!" She called, walking away. Clint laughed and shook his head, heading in the opposite direction.

"Clint?"

He turned to see Natasha walk towards him.

"Oh, hey," He smiled.

"I was at Russian club, I help out with the teaching," She pointed behind her.

"I was at-"

"Bird club," She smirked and he felt himself blush. Her face fell into a calm, neutral expression, "With your girlfriend."

"Who?"

"The little one with the bangs," Her eyes narrowed slightly, before the neutral expression settled again,  "Wears a lot of purple."

"Kate? Katie-Kate?" Clint felt vomit rise in his throat, "No! Never. Gross. She's like my little sister or like an annoying stray cat that won't leave."

She grinned for a second before her face fell neutral but eyes held warmth. She hummed, noncommittally, looking at her nails briefly.

"I suppose we should organize study time."

"Y-Yeah!" Hanging out with Natasha? Hell fuckin' yeah! "The library would-"

"Your house?"

"Uh, yeah, I mean, I have a dog-"

"I'll meet you after gym tomorrow," She smiled again, then walked away, leaving Clint standing with his mouth open.

Tomorrow night Natasha was gonna be in _his house,_ in _his room_. He wondered what Natasha liked to eat, since at lunch she mostly just sipped water and looked indifferent. Whatever she liked, he was sure his mom could cook it and Barney could just fuck off with whatever he wanted and-

Fuck.

He'd forgotten about Barney.

_ Fuck. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow so there's some plot here
> 
> Unbeta'd!
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos and everything if you like it! Thanks a lot!
> 
> Title by: Dead Hearts - Stars


	3. Clint Does Some Homework

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint manages to lure Natasha into his house. It's about as creepy as it sounds.  
> Bucky feels comfortable.  
> Steve feels awkward.  
> Natasha is badass.  
> Barney _almost ___harasses a minor.  
>  Clint's mom is a saint.  
> Tony continues to test the patience of every person in his friendship group, especially Pepper, who hates him a lot.

After an evening of slyly (he wasn't sly) trying to convince Barney that he should fuck off tonight, Clint concluded that he was a fucking failure.

They hadn't spoken all day, and now it was gym class. He was beginning to wonder if she'd come over at all.

He kinda hoped she wouldn't.

(He really wanted her to, though).

Since May wasn't in for the class, Happy wanted to do some boxing, 'cause that was what he was apparently trained for.

They stood around the mats, watching Happy's demonstration.

"Right hook, left hook, uppercut, block!" He did the moves, "Understand?" Everyone nodded, "Okay, volunteers!"

Rumlow's hand shot up, along with Schmidt's. Slowly more hands started to be raised, including Gamora's. Happy looked to Steve with a plea in his eyes. Steve pointedly stared at the back of Bucky's head.

Bucky, the ever casual-ever straight-boy wonder took it upon himself to lie back against Steve as this happened. Steve's eyes widened a little bit as Bucky's head hit his shoulder, until a grin formed on his face.

It fell when Bucky's hand found Natasha's.

Clint had a feeling they were going through similar things.

"Rumlow, you're up!"

As Happy and Rumlow 'fought', Natasha and Bucky smirked at each other, playing with each other's hands. Steve subtly (Clint thought it would've been to someone not watching like he was) went to step away, but Bucky just followed. Clint inwardly cringed for him.

"Anyone else?" Happy called. Steve's hand shot up and he darted out so fast that for a split second Bucky fell back.

Unfortunately (because it would've been the most hilarious thing to happen to anyone ever), because Bucky Barnes is an assassin, he caught himself.

Happy tried to encourage Steve to throw harder punches at the air, telling him more complex moves that Steve only half understood. His punches were ill timed and he lacked passion.

"Rogers, you're killing me," Happy sighed, "I don't know how many times they had to pull other kids off of ya when you started things way back when you were little."

"Yeah, but no one's being a jerk right now."

Sam huffed a laugh. Steve glared at him.

"Steve, try."

"I'm honestly not a violent person, Mr. Hogan. I just don't like bullies."

"Pretend you're fighting a bully."

"I'd rather not, Mr. Hogan... Can I go and stand back over there now?"

Happy sighed but nodded. Steve walked back around and stood in between Clint and Natasha (frowny emoji), not looking at Bucky, who's face looked hurt, before he glared.

"Anyone who wants to actually fight raise your hand," Happy sighed.

Hands went up.

Natasha's hand went up.

Now, she wasn't the smallest in the class (Rocket), but she was shorter than most, and her curves were way too soft to hold any muscle.

"OMG let Natasha do it," Stark beamed, "Come on, it'll be better than watching Rocket beat up that dummy in health class last semester."

"You wanna go, Stark? I'll rip your throat out-!"

"Mr. Rocket, remember what Dr Strange said about your anger issues.”

“I don’t have anger issues!” Rocket growled, before Happy had Groot walk him to the councilor’s office.

“Let Natasha do it,” Stark repeated, grinning.

“Tony, you wanna have a go?”

“Ew. No. Let her fight. Come on. Show her.”

Happy rolled his eyes and sighed, but indicated for Natasha to step forward.

(And if Bucky grabbed Steve’s hand in place of Natasha’s, who was Clint to comment?)

“Why do you want her to fight so badly?” Pepper asked, _definitely_ not jealous.

“’Cause, look at her. She’s tiny and pretty and her hair is always perfect and just imagine her curling her tiny little hands into fists and trying to avoid breaking a nail.”

Pepper stopped listening at ‘pretty’. Natasha glared at Tony.

“Have you ever boxed before?” Happy asked, holding his gloved hands up.

“Yes, I have,” Natasha smiled, turning around briefly, before looking at Tony, who was sticking his tongue out at her.

“What? Booty boot camp? Crunch? Something like that?”

Stark giggled. Natasha turned around to glare again, as Happy swung his fist towards her face.

She turned around in a split second and grabbed his arm, twisting it and using that momentum to flip her own body around, wrap her legs around his neck and send him to the ground.

If Clint hadn’t loved Natasha at first sight, he certainly would now.

Natasha held him for a second, before jumping up and dusting herself off, combing a hand through her curls to resettle them.

“I’m pretty sure that’s illegal in boxing,” Peter Quill said, because he’s the only one who’s missing enough brain cells to challenge Natasha.

But she didn’t launch for him, she just fixed her gym t-shirt, her expression calm.

“Yeah, it was, sorry, Mr. Hogan,” She didn’t sound sorry at all, and returned to her space between Steve and Bucky, taking Bucky’s offered hand as he dropped Steve’s.

“Um… okay, well, you clearly have some talent in the… uh… defense department.” Happy huffed, clearly winded.

“I learned mixed martial arts in Russia.”

“That… That explains a lot, thank you.”

Clint grinned. His future wife was clearly head of the real Russian Mafia back home, meaning that Clint could have any future enemies shiv-ed at any given moment.

“Uh, pair off,” Happy said, holding his side, moving slowly to sit on the bench.

People started moving to work together, Rhodey grabbing Tony and pushing him toward Bruce before he could bother Pepper or Natasha, and then moved to work with Pepper.

(And no, Pepper did _not_ frown when Rhodey blocked Tony from getting to her).

(Natasha grinned.)

Bucky released Natasha’s hand and slapped Steve’s peck, before grabbing his arm and dragging him away.

Sam looked at Clint, eyebrows raised, but then shook his head with a laugh and went over to Sharon Carter.

Clint frowned a little, confused. He turned in response to a tap on his shoulder.

“Hi,” Natasha smiled, standing in front of him.

“Ugh, are you my partner?” Clint groaned. Natasha’s smile dropped.

“Yes,” Her expression was entirely neutral, but Clint would be lying if he said he didn’t think she looked disappointed and maybe even a little bit hurt.

“But you’re badass and scary and you’re gonna kick my ass in front of everyone,” He groaned again, then smiled, not wanting her to think he was serious.

She grinned immediately, then grabbed his arm, “I’ll go easy on you.”

They started out doing what Happy had taught them, just like everyone else, but, as Happy continued not to watch, everyone started to just fight, because apparently everyone at this school was trained in fighting.

Gamora kicked Peter Quill’s ass, and it was really funny. Then she took on Drax, and that lasted longer, because Drax is a beast. Everyone was just glad Rocket had been taken out, because he was scary and tiny and wasn’t afraid of playing dirty.

(Clint had heard rumors of ankle biting, which he could definitely picture).

The X-Men were just… too much. They mostly just played pretend, but at one point, Raven did a back flip and kicked Hank in the face.

Bucky and Steve play fought for a bit and ended up in a real fist fight, with Thor and Sif having to pause their battle in order to pull them apart.

(After they were pulled apart they started laughing did it all over again, more than a few times.)

Natasha and Clint ended up fighting using their skills. While Clint had planned to go a little bit easier on Natasha (even if she was scarily trained by the Russians), he ended up having to play dirty to get the upper hand, grabbing her hair and pulling hard.

She gasped and glared at him, but then bit his arm, which made him drop her and yelp. She laughed and kicked him, knocking him down.

Clint was about to get up and go at her again, when Happy yelled for everyone to go to the locker rooms.

If Clint was relieved, he wasn’t gonna tell anyone.

“I’ll meet you out here after,” Natasha smiled, walking to the girls locker room. Clint grinned and went to the boys.

* * *

Clint was leaning against the wall when Natasha came out, smiling softly.

“Are you ready?”

Clint nodded and walked with her out. He was getting more and more nervous as they walked out of school.

“Do you have a car or anything?” Clint asked. She shook her head.

“James usually drives me in, or my uncle sometimes,” She looked up at him, “Do you?”

“No… I take the bus or walk, sorry,” He scratched the back of his neck, awkwardly. He was a loser and Barnes was a hot stud with a cool car, and he was supposed to compete with that?

“Okay,” She just smiled again, and walked with him around the corner.

“It’s not far-“

“I don’t mind, Clint.”

* * *

They walked in almost silence to his house, where he opened the door and ushered in as soon as possible, before slamming it shut.

“Going upstairs, mom!” Clint grabbed Natasha’s hand and tried to drag her upstairs.

He had to avoid Barney the most, but his mom was very affectionate and he really didn’t want her to scare Natasha away.

“Clint, honey!”

He rolled his eyes and leaned over the rail to see her, “What?”

“You have a friend.”

“Oh, this is Natasha, Natasha, this is my mom.”

 “Hello,” Natasha smiled.

“It’s lovely to meet one of Clint’s little friends!”

He really wished that Natasha had killed him in gym class.

“Are you staying for dinner?”

Natasha just smiled, so Clint pushed at her back, glaring at his mom.

“We’re going upstairs.”

“Leave the door open!”

He rolled his eyes and directed her to his room, before shutting the door, ignoring his mother.

He turned back to find Natasha examining his room. He was suddenly conscious that he should’ve cleaned it better, but thankfully his mother was a homebody and liked to organize Clint’s stuff if she had the chance, so it wasn’t as bad as it could be.

Band posters covered the walls, as well as several bows, which his mother hated, but Barney said looked cool (not that he cared what Barney thought, ever). He had weird CDs and cassette tapes piled up because, despite being raised in the era of technology, he found iTunes too confusing to work.

His bed was made (thank you, mom) and there were only a couple of t-shirts on his desk chair, so all in all, he was sure that Natasha wouldn’t burst into tears and call her uncle (or Barnes) to come get her.

“Should we start?” She asked, turning her head towards him.

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” He picked up his backpack and took out his English notebook, turning back to see Natasha lying on his bed, leaning against his pillow, holding several versions of the text, all with different footnotes, as well as an open notebook, already full of notes.

But Clint couldn’t really look past the fact that she was lying on his bed, looking relaxed and comfy, as if she belonged there.

Fuck.

“So, uh, you already started, huh?”

“Oh, not really, I only did a few notes, here and there…” She flicked the pages back and forth to show four full pages. “It’s not a lot.”

“Okay, well, I’m about to cry,” He joked, favoring humor over dealing with the fact that he was in love with Natasha Romanoff and she would never love him back.

“Shut up,” She laughed, tucking her legs up underneath her to make room for him to sit at the bottom and look at her notes.

They were detailed and extensive and as funny as it was that she thought she’d done no work, he felt bad because in all honesty, this looked to be enough to write an essay on, and he hadn’t even helped.

“By the way, Barton, if you think this is close to being ready for class, you’re completely wrong,”

Clint looked up, shocked.

“What else do we need?” He asked, confused.

“Just start reading,” She threw a book at his head, then opened her own.

* * *

A couple of hours later, and Natasha was lying on her front across his bed, highlighting her book, and Clint lay with her head on her back, pretending to read his book, but actually thinking about what his mom was making for dinner.

“Are you working?” Natasha asked, apparently sensing his relaxation.

“Uh… yeah.”

She elbowed him in the side of the face.

“Can’t we take a break?” Clint groaned, throwing the book gently onto the bed (he wasn’t about to damage Natasha’s stuff, he wasn’t that much of a dick).

She stayed silent for a little while, thinking it over, before capping her highlighter and throwing her own book of the bed (she had none of Clint’s reservations), then rolling over so that Clint’s head rested on her stomach.

They lay in silence for a bit, and Clint almost fell asleep, until she started talking.

“I’d rather be doing work, if I’m honest.”

“What? You don’t wanna just relax with me?”

“I don’t know… I keep thinking about the essay and then I want to work on it because this feels lazy when we have an assignment,” She sighed, “It’d be nicer if I wasn’t thinking about it.”

“Well, think about other stuff.”

“Like what?”

“Well…” Clint lay for a bit, thinking, “Your name is Natasha.”

“Um, yes?”

“But you’re also called Natalia.”

“Well, that’s my Russian name.”

“So, how come you have two?”

“Natalia is my formal name, and Natasha is the name friend’s can use for me, and also the American version of Natalia.”

“But if your friends call you Natasha, why do the Russians call you Natalia?”

“They’re not my friends.”

“Barnes calls you Natalia,” Clint chose to return to the Russians later.

“I let James call me Natalia because he likes Russian things,” Her hands combed absently through Clint’s hair, “So he likes my Russian name.”

“Do you prefer your Russian name or your American name?”

“I like Natasha, but I like James calling me Natalia.”

Clint didn’t reply, but felt like she’d just kicked the crap out of him like she did to Happy earlier.

Clint could watch Barnes fawn over Steve all day long but that in no way meant that he and Natasha weren’t madly in love. Clint could lie on Natasha’s stomach and distract her from working everyday but it’d never mean that she liked him back.

Still, he had her friendship, and that was enough. He could deal with his feelings in his own time if it meant keeping Natasha around.

They may have not been best friends, but whenever they spoke, no matter how long for, it felt familiar, like they were friends for years. Her humor was dry and sarcastic, but sometimes she was a total dork (no matter how much she denied it) and being around her made him happy.

“Clint?” His mom called, knocking on the door softly, then opening it before he could actually acknowledge her, “Oh!”

Clint rolled his eyes and sat up, “We’re having a break, mom.”

“Oh… of course... um, dinner’s ready,” She rushed back out, leaving the door open.

Clint put his head in his hands and groaned, “Sorry about her.”

“Its fine, Clint,” Natasha giggled, sitting up and looking at him.

* * *

“Be nice, Barney!”

“I’m always nice.”

“Barney!”

“Fine, but I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“You leave your little brother alone.”

“No way does Clint have a ‘very beautiful young lady’ in his- Oh, hi Clint.”

Clint stopped dead in the hallway, eyes wide, as Barney stood before him, brows raised.

“Mom says you-“ He looked passed Clint and saw Natasha, and his entire face visibly changed, “Well, hey there, who’re you?”

“Natasha Romanoff,” She held her hand out, ever polite. Barney pushed Clint into the wall and grabbed it with both of his hands.

“I’m Barney Barton, and no way are _you_ dating mybrother.”

“She’s- We’re not- She isn’t my-“

“Well, duh, Clint, what did I just say?” He put his arm around Natasha and led her back into the dining room. Natasha caught Clint’s eye and laughed. Clint sighed and followed them through.

Barney pulled out the chairs on the left side of the table, and Clint’s mom smacked his arm.

“Let Clint sit next to his _friend_.”

Barney glared at his mother, who glared right back, until he let go of Natasha so that she could walk back to sit next to Clint and opposite Barney. Clint sat down, his mom grinning and raising her eyebrows toward Natasha, who was looking at the food on her plate.

“This looks delicious, Mrs. Barton.”

“Thank you, Natasha!”

“So, Natasha, how come you’re friends with _him_?” Barney pointed at Clint. Their mom smacked his finger down. 

“We’re working on a project together.” Clint said, his teeth gritted.

“We go to school together and we’re in two classes together.” Natasha smiled, answering Barney.

“No way are you only a sophomore!” Barney was openly flirting with Natasha, and Clint was just waiting for his mother to remind his brother that he was five years older than her sixteen years.

And, as if on cue-

“Barney.”

“I’m not doing anything!”

* * *

Clint’s mom was an angel and distracted Barney long enough for him to steal Natasha back to his room.

“Sorry.” He groaned, pushing the door closed and putting his head in his hands.

Natasha laughed, throwing herself on the bed.

Clint went and sat next to her, both moving close to fit on the twin bed.

“You’re brother…”

“Oh, he _loves_ you.”

“He was trying to play footsie under the table.”

“Oh my fucking god.”

“Oh no, it was lovely.”

His head snapped up.

“Excuse me?”

She burst out laughing, a rare genuine laugh that made Clint’s heart swell three sizes.

“Your face!” She pointed and continued laughing.

“I don’t feel comfortable with how comfortable you feel with my brother.”

“Oh, shut up!” She smacked his arm lightly, and he managed to resist rubbing it (she’s very strong). “You know that Stark’s got a rumor going that your brother ran off to join the circus.”

“Well, it’s not a rumor, ‘cause Barney did join the circus. Couldn’t hack it. They left him behind when they moved towns so he came home. My mom pretends that he didn’t try to leave.”

“Well, it’s better that he’s here, you know.” She looked down, a little bit sad. “I left everyone back in Russia… I see them maybe twice a year, over summer and Christmas…”

“I’m sorry, Natasha.”

“It’s just a little lonely… I guess that’s why I still hang around with the guys,” She cleared her throat and kept her eyes down. “Before they moved here, no one spoke to me, because my English was broken and my accent was still a little thick. When the first one came, the teacher made us sit together because he barely spoke English and I could translate better.” If Clint didn’t know better, he’d say her eyes were glassy. “It’s hard when no one understands you.”

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears.

“I know what you mean.”

She looked back down with a dry smirk.

“No, honestly, Natasha, I do.” He touched her arm lightly to get her to look back up. “I’ve been deaf since I was a kid. I used to talk in sign language because Barney understood it so I kinda figured everyone else would too. It was easier than speaking normally… I didn’t have any friends until I was older and Barney stopped talking to me.”

Barney had decided at the age of sixteen (Clint’s age now) that he was too cool for his family (he probably was), and stopped hanging out with them. Clint’s mom understood his sign language a little bit, but not like Barney did.

“I was wondering what that was on your ear.” She brushed his hearing aid, her hand moving to rest on his cheek afterwards. “And I was wondering why you always stared at me the way you do.” She giggled. “You’re reading my lips.”

_Okay, let’s go with that._

Clint nodded and laughed, awkwardly.

Natasha moved slowly, staring at Clint’s lips, her face leaning closer.

He froze.

_Oh my god. Oh MY GOD. Come on Clint, all that making out with Jessica Drew in eighth grade, this is what it was it was building up to. This is what Barney knew was coming from the day he made you learn to tie a knot in a cherry stem (and other things, *internal giggle*). This is what you have been waiting for. Don’t fuck it up. Do. Not. Fuck. It. Up-_

Her lips brushed his cheek gently, before she pulled away entirely and got up from the bed.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Clint. We should meet again for studying.”

As they walked downstairs towards the door, Clint spoke, “Uh, okay, I’ll meet you after gym-“

“The library?”

Clint smiled and nodded, then watched as she stepped out of the door, turning and giving a brief wave and a ‘thank you’ to his mom, before she walked away, not turning back.

“Wow, you got it bad,” Barney laughed almost immediately after their mom had closed the door and shooed them into the living room.

“Shut up.”

“Like, she is smoking hot, and she is _so_ not interested-“

“Shut the fuck up, Barney.”

He wasn’t in the mood to listen to how uninterested Natasha was in him. This wasn’t just a crush, and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to be her friend (and he really, really didn’t want to be _that guy_ ).

“Whoa… you do have it bad, huh?” Barney sat next to him on the couch, sitting back and observing him, “Clint, you gotta tell her.”

“Fuck off.”

“No, you need to hear this, okay? That girl, right there? That smoking hot redhead with curves that look like they’re made out of butter, I mean, don’t even get me started on dat ass-“

“Barney!”

“Oh, sorry, um… anyway- that girl, right there? She _likes_ you, Clint.”

“That’s a lie.”

“It’s not.”

“She has a boyfriend. His name is Bucky.”

“Bucky’s a stupid fucking name.”

“Your name is Barney.”

“I’m trying to help you, Clinton,” Barney smacked Clint on the side of the head.

“I hate you.”

“Look at me, Clint, then look at yourself. Anyone can see that I’m insanely hotter than you-“

“Fuck off.”

“And yet that little ginger would rather hang out with you than me, older stud-“

“You live with your mother because the circus dumped you-!”

“Clint! Tell Natasha that you love her, immediately!”

Barney emphasized his point by throwing all of his weight onto Clint and repeatedly punching Clint’s arm.

“Get off!”

“Tell Natasha you love her!”

They fought for an hour until their mom got bored of the screaming.

(Barney had a broken nose).

(Clint went into school the next day covered in band aids with a black eye).

(Someone (Stark) asked if Natasha had done it).

(Clint said no, but nobody believed him).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh plOT
> 
> Unbeta'd!
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos and everything if you like it! Thanks a lot!
> 
> Title by: Dead Hearts - Stars
> 
> Check out my tumblr at aliahnovna


	4. Clint Starts Of A Chain Of Events That Drastically Impact Everyone's Lives *(Mostly)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint FUCKS UP.  
> Natasha gets angry.  
> Bruce gets angry.  
> Tony gets more and more fierce as the days go on.  
> Thor is the hero.  
> Steve and Bucky chat a little.

Clint was bruised and tired and was not pleased to find that there had been a seating change in Physics.

In Sam’s seat was Bucky Barnes, who was not speaking to Steve Rogers, who was blushing.

Sam Wilson now sat next to Loki Odinson-Laufeyson (Clint has been considering calling child services and reporting this name) in what used to be Brock Rumlow’s and Bucky Barnes’ seats.

Brock Rumlow sat next to Clint.

Fucking ace.

“Why?” Clint asked, slumping onto the stool.

“Wilson can’t handle Rogers anymore.”

“So, why can’t I sit next to Steve?”

“Quill told Selvig you bully Rogers.”

“Why the fuck did he do that?”

“’Cause Quill’s a dick.”

“I’m an asshole but I’m not a dick.” Peter turned around, frowning.

“You’re kind of a dick, Quill.” Rumlow smirked back.

“Kind of a dick.” Peter agreed, turning back to Gamora, who rolled her eyes.

“Why are you here?!”

“I wasn’t sitting next to Rogers. Can’t catch the homo.”

Clint rolled his eyes and turned around, coming face to face with Bucky, who glared at him.

“You’re Natalia’s new _friend_.”

The way he said friend made Clint wanna kill himself.

“You’re Natasha’s boyfriend.”

The way he said boyfriend made Clint wanna kill himself.

Bucky just raised his eyebrows slightly.

_Why did this kid look and act like an assassin? Was he even Russian? What kind of a Russian is named Bucky?_

Who ever is named Bucky?

Well, his name is James Buchannan Barnes, but who the hell names their kid after _the most_ obscure president ever? It’s just as bad.

“Rogers.” Barton nodded, ignoring Bucky’s huff of air.

“Hey.” Steve smiled.

“Barton, are you a homo?” Rumlow asked from next to him, turning around with a disgusted expression.

“Yes, Brock, I am.”

Clint held his hand out across Steve’s desk, where he grasped it with both hands. Clint grabbed at Steve’s hands and pulled them to his mouth and kissed his knuckles. He released one hand in order to touch Brock’s shoulder, which made him yelp and move his stool further away, causing Clint and Steve to laugh.

“You can let go now.” Bucky said, smiling a grin that didn’t reach his eyes, at Clint.

“I can?” Clint held back laughter.

Natasha and Kate could think whatever they wanted about Bucky’s face (and abs and butt and hair, etc.), but Bucky would never love them like he loved Steve.

“Don’t be a dick, Barton.” The smile started to drip off his face, and the serial killer expression returned.

Clint _was_ a dick, so he lifted Steve’s hand to his face once more, and gently pressed his lips to his knuckles, as if he were kissing Natasha.

(Steve’s hands were bigger, but oddly soft, covered in specks of paint).

They tell him he smacked his head off the ground when Barnes launched at him.

He doesn’t remember.

* * *

Witnesses (Rumlow) say that Barton hit first, but Steve rolled his eyes and said it was Bucky (though Clint did provoke him).

(“How?”)

(“Oh… he just said something…”)

* * *

Tony was having the best day.

He’d eaten four donuts, drank thirteen cups of coffee, made three prototype mini-robots (which he was gonna set on Loki later on this week), and Clint Barton had been beaten up again.

He was laughing away as he watched Thor carrying him out. It was beautiful. Clint looked like the damsel to Thor’s Fabio. He’d taken as many pictures as he could from every angle he could. He was gonna make a collage and give it to Bruce for Christmas.

“What happened?” Professor Selvig asked, looking out after Thor.

Steve started blabbering as Bucky sat, calm as ever, the little assassin he was. Rumlow started to fan his face, putting his hand to his mouth, gasping a lot.

“Mr. Rumlow, are you okay?”

“Yeah… just… the _things_ he was saying.”

“What things?”

Bucky’s eyes narrowed, Steve’s widened.

“Shut the fuck up,” Bucky all but growled.

“ _What things_?” Selvig repeated.

* * *

Barton got suspended for three days, Barnes for a week.

* * *

Kate slapped Clint for what he ‘said’.

(“How dare you say those things about Natasha! I thought you were a nice guy!”)

* * *

Clint texts Natasha the first night of his suspension.

_Sorry about leaving you to do the project._

He gets no response.

_I didn’t say what Rumlow says I did._

* * *

They say he made several crude comments about a ‘little Russian bitch’ and described several sexual acts in such a vivid detail that Rumlow felt physically sick when he heard them.

No one believes Steve when he says he didn’t, because Steve won’t say what really made Bucky annoyed.

* * *

When Steve does say what angered Bucky (because Steve Rogers is a saint), no one believes him, and start spreading Rumlow’s rumor even more.

* * *

“I don’t believe it.”

“Uh?” Bruce sat back from his textbook, glancing at Tony.

“Barton, Romanov.”

“What are you-?”

“He would never say those things about her. He idolizes her.”

“Is idolizes really the right word to use?”

“He’s positively obsessed with her.”

“That’s better.”

“He spends most of his time staring at her and in his notebook there was a sketch of a stickwoman wearing a short skirt and bright orange hair and huge knockers-“

“Where did you see this?”

“He left his backpack on the floor outside his locker.”

“When?”

“He might have been carrying his backpack and I took it when he stopped to stare at Betty Ross’s butt.”

“What?”

“Bruce-“

“He did… he did _what_?”

“Bruce, calm down, please.”

“I’m gonna kill him.”

“I’ll get Doctor Strange.”

* * *

Clint goes back into school to find that he’s been moved to sit next to Darcy Lewis, who scares him.

“Hey,” She says as he sits down.

“Um, hi.”

“I’m Darcy.”

“We’ve met before.”

“Just in case you forgot.”

He’s not about to lie. He remembers Darcy = double-Ds.

“And you’re Clint.”

“I am,” He nods.

“Did you say those things about Natasha?”

“No.”

“Then I trust you!” She grinned and grabbed his bicep, “Nice!”

* * *

He’s taking her to the movies by the end of first period.

* * *

He sits alone at lunch, because Darcy invited him over, but Sif had raised a butter knife like a weapon, so he decided against it.

Kate glared at him.

Steve was sitting with the Howling Commandos, who coughed and didn’t really speak to him when he went over to say ‘hi’ to Steve.

Even Loki wouldn’t let him sit around the back of the school.

The only positive Clint took from this was that everyone in this school seemed to be wholly against sexism and rude remarks, which Clint liked, even if it meant that a rumor had caused him to be ostracized.

* * *

In dodgeball, his own teammates threw to hit him.

Gamora also kicked him in the leg.

“Natasha!” He yelled after her, limping a little from Gamora’s attack.

Natasha stopped, turning around, her expression utterly indifferent.

“Yes?”

“Can I talk to you?”

“I did the project, Clint. I already put your name on it and turned it in.”

“No! Nat!” He chased after her as she began moving again, “I didn’t say that stuff and you know I didn’t!”

She didn’t stop walking; in fact, she only increased her pace until she reached Bucky, who put his arm around her with a glare back to Clint.

* * *

“I’m gonna do something.”

“Tony, just leave-“

“Bruce, please.”

“Tony, he’s right.”

“Don’t start, James.”

“Don’t call me James! It’s Rhodey!”

“What’s with James’ and their stupid nicknames? Seriously.”

“I think Rhodey’s right.”

“And I think Banner is right.”

“Screw you both, I’m flawless.”

* * *

“Steve!”

He wasn’t about to turn around and face him. He couldn’t.

He really wished he’d been selfish enough to make his mom drive to pick him up when her shift ended.

He really hated being a nice person.

“Steve! Stop!”

He didn’t care if he looked like a loser. He was a good runner and he was gonna use that now. Sam used to hate running with him because he never stood a chance.

“You bastard!”

Steve grinned as he picked up pace and sprinted as fast as he could down the street.

“Steve!”

That one sounded different, and Steve almost stumbled with the weight of it.

Then he really stumbled because it was December and there was ice on the floor and he almost died and he’s certain that he would’ve died this time last year.

“You idiot!”

“Rude.”

Steve groaned as he moved to sit up.

“You’re hurt,” Bucky grumbled, kicking his arm.

“That hurt, jerk.”

“You’re a punk and I just chased you down three blocks and I tried to warn you but you’re being a dick and now you’re hurt.”

“I’m pretty sure Russians don’t believe in karma.”

He kicked him again.

“Help me up.”

* * *

They went to Steve’s house, where his mom coddled him until she saw Bucky, at which point she started crying and hugged him for ten minutes while Steve cleaned his face.

“I’ll be just upstairs,” She pointed to the staircase, then grabbed Bucky’s arms again, “You’re staying for dinner?”

“Uh, Mom-“

“Of course I will!”

She grinned and went upstairs, waving at Bucky when she got to the top. Steve sat on the sofa with an icepack on his grazed cheek. Bucky sat down in the arm chair next to him.

“I hate you.”

“What the fuck, Steve?”

“We are not friends anymore, Bucky! You can’t chase me home and then stay for dinner!”

“I wasn’t chasing you!”

“Yes, you were!”

Bucky kicked him and Steve kicked back. They ended up in a fight that resulted in Bucky falling off the chair and smacking his face off of the coffee table.

Now they both sat on the couch, ice packs on their faces, glaring at each other. As soon as Sarah retreated back upstairs they started again.

“Why were you even following me?”

“Why were you avoiding me?”

“Why did you hurt Clint?”

“Why was he holding your hand?”

“Why do you care?!”

“I don’t!”

They sat in silence for a minute, before Bucky sat forward, putting his ice pack on the table.

“W-Why was he holding your hand?”

“Bucky, why do you care?” Steve sat forward as well, putting his ice pack down.

“You broke up with Sam, right?”

“Well, yeah-“

“Are you dating Barton?”

“What? No!”

“Then, what was that about?”

“We were messing with Rumlow, Buck. You must know what a homophobe he is.”

“You do realize that’s because he’s hiding how fucking gay he is, right?”

“What?”

“He’s entirely obsessed with you but he suppresses it and turns it into gay-bashing.”

“What?!”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“But… But what got you so mad, Buck?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“And what’s with you lately? Hand holding? Leaning on me? You didn’t used to do this stuff even when we were best friends.”

“I-I didn’t know you didn’t mind it then…”

“What do you mean?”

Bucky looked up at him and licked his lips lightly.

“Sam.”

“What about him?”

“Steve, you had a girlfriend and you always said you liked girls.”

“Well I did only like girls but then Sam was different.”

Bucky looked as if someone had just killed a puppy in front of him.

“O-Oh.”

He stood up, dusting off his jacket.

“Buck?”

“I’m, uh, I’m gonna go…”

“Bucky-“

“Nah, I, uh, I got stuff I gotta do…”

“But my mom’s expecting you for dinner…”

“Steve, I gotta go.”

He pushed passed him to get to the door.

“Bucky, wait-!”

* * *

“Clint!”

Clint walked over to meet Darcy, grinning as she went on her tip toes to kiss his cheek.

“What movie did you wanna see?”

“I was thinking that we go to the cheapest one and make out at the back?”

“You get me, Lewis.”

“You bet that sweet chiseled ass I do.”

She emphasized her point but smacking him on the butt and then skipping off to the ticket stand.

The movie was awesome, because he spent most of it with his tongue down a hot girl’s throat.

* * *

Tony approached her as if he were approaching a mountain lion- no, a cougar.

She was a cougar.

Or a lioness.

They hunted, right?

He wasn’t sure, but he knew she terrified him, but this was a necessary evil.

He took a breath, raising a hand, almost to touch her gently.

“May I help you, Tony?”

“How do you do that?”

“I’m Russian.”

“Well, you’re scary.”

“I try.”

He sat down on the opposite side of the table. Yesterday had been the ‘Incident’ (as Tony had named it), and today during their free period, instead of spending his time making things in the lab or bothering Pepper, he had been hunting down Natasha.

(Pepper had _not_ been jealous about that. Not at all. She's better than that. She's going to Harvard.).

“What do you want?”

“Just stopped by for a chat-“

“Stark,” Her eyes flickered up, glaring at him.

“What’re you reading?”

She rolled her eyes, but still handed her book over, “It’s Lolita.”

“Kiddie porn?”

He thought her eyes were gonna explode when he handed it back.

“Never speak to me again.”

“It was a joke, kinda.”

“So, did you need something?”

“You and Barnes.”

“James and I.”

“How long d’you think that’s gonna last?”

“Excuse me?”

“Think you’re gonna, you know,” He ran his finger over his throat and then imitated dying.

“Tony-“

“When are you gonna break up?”

Her face lost it’s composure for a second, and she looked like she was gonna stab him. She probably was.

“Why?”

“Because he loves Steve.”

“If you say so.”

“Natasha-“

“It’s not really your business.”

“Look, I’m coming to you as a friend-“

“Since when are we friends?”

“We’re friends.”

She rolled her eyes and closed the book, standing up and grabbing her bag from the ground.

“Go away.”

“Natasha, Nat, come on!”

He all but chased her out of the library and into the hallway, grabbing her arm (very risky) and pulling her back into an empty classroom.

“Tony, James loves me, not Steve.”

“I’m sure he does, Natasha, but listen,” He snapped his fingers in front of her face as she looked to the side (very risky again), “You’re not stupid; you can _see_ what’s right in front of you.”

“James beat somebody up today because of things they said about me.”

 _Somebody_. Fuck his life. This was just annoying.

“You don’t really believe Clint Barton said that stuff, do you?”

“It doesn’t matter,” She shook her head, “In fact, it’s utterly irrelevant.”

“Fine. Tell me that Barnes isn’t head over heels for Rogers and I’ll leave it alone.”

“I’m leaving.”

“Tell me.”

“Tony.”

“Natasha.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because you know as well as I do that they’re MFEO.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“Made for each other, obviously.”

“I hate you.”

“Nat, stop.”

“Tony, I already broke up with James, like, three hours ago.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Never mind then.”

* * *

Steve was lying in bed, reading the required book for history and feeling shockingly worried at how similar Schmidt’s ideals were to Adolf Hitler, when his window was thrown open.

He almost screamed, which would’ve been ridiculous, because one time he accidentally stepped out in front of Peter Parker and Peter fell to the ground so hard they thought someone had punched him.

(Steve had been very protective of Peter ever since).

Instead he grabbed his pillow and threw himself back, falling off of the bed and knocking over a lamp.

“Jesus, Rogers.”

Steve threw his upper half onto the bed, his knees on the floor, only to see Bucky wiping a hand over his face, flicking water everywhere.

_His mom was gonna kill-_

Not the thing to be thinking about right now.

“Bucky?!”

“Steve.”

“What the hell are you doing?”

“’Come to see you.”

“We have a front door, you know.”

“I know, but just in case you got in trouble.”

“If it wasn’t you, maybe,” Steve brushed his hair back and got to his feet, “But if my mom looked at you and saw you soaking she’d make you cocoa and give you a blanket.”

“It’s been a while, I guess.”

Steve had moved to be standing in front of him, looking down at him.

“This is weird.”

“Is it?” Steve felt really awkward, remembering that, yes, he was in his pajamas, and, yes, they were his comfy grandpa ones he only wore after a long day.

“You’re, like, seven feet taller than me. What the fuck?”

“Uh, I hit my growth spurt-“

“I heard all about Steve Rogers’ Growth Spurt,” He rolled his eyes, “It’s all anyone could talk about.”

“Yeah, well-“

“You are _so_ on ‘roids.”

“I’m not! I got taller through a natural growth spurt! My dad was tall!”

“I don’t believe you! No one gets like _this_ naturally!”

He thumped him to emphasize the point.

Steve pushed Bucky back.

Just like he would’ve done years ago.

With all of his force.

But it wasn’t years ago.

Steve was huge. Bucky fell.

“Dude!”

“ _Steve, honey, you okay?”_

“Yes, Mom!”

“ _Okay, sweetie, go to bed!”_

“Night, Mom!”

“ _Love you!”_

“Love you too!”

Steve was bright red, watching as Bucky laughed from the floor.

“What do you want?!”

He was literally whisper-yelling when his mom probably already knew Bucky was here.

“I came to see you.”

“Why?”

“Because I want us to be friends.”

“Why?”

“’Cause I do.”

“Why?”

Bucky thumped Steve again, and Steve only barely resisted pushing him.

“We’re friends, Rogers.”

He didn’t allow Steve to say anything, moving back to the window and throwing a leg over.

“Oh, and nice PJ’s.”

“Shut up!”

* * *

“I’m gonna do something.”

Tony announced to Bruce, entering the lab where Bruce was doing some extra credit work during their free period.

“You already did something.”

“No, I tried to get Natasha to dump Bucky when she already had, and now Bucky and Steve are _talking_.”

“Isn’t that good?”

“No.”

“Tony-“

“They should be fu-“

“Ugh, gross, Tony.”

“Are you a homophobe?”

“Tony, I don’t wanna hear about gay sex, straight sex, alien sex-“

“Do aliens have sex? I’ll have to ask Thor.”

“Don’t talk about sex in my lab.”

“What about your sex life?”

“You’re so intelligent, but instead of helping me do something, you stand there talking about-“

“What about Betty?”

“Who?”

“Betty Ross, the chick that follows you around? Huge boobs- BRUCE, NO! I’M SORRY!”

* * *

“Did you hear about Stark fainting and Banner’s aggressive behavior? They made him sit with Strange for three hours and now he and Rocket have to go to anger management for three hours a week-“

Bucky resisted screaming when Natasha body checked him into a closet and slammed the door shut.

“Oh, hey.”

“What the fuck?”

He turned around to see Steve standing there, solemnly, his hands tied together.

“Could you untie me?”

“Why are you in here?”

“Natasha wanted to talk to me in the art room and I woke up in here.”

“She kidnapped you?”

“She kidnapped you too, actually. Door’s unbeatable.”

“Nah.”

“I tried a lot, Buck.”

Bucky ignored him and knelt down, picking the lock with ease.

The door slowly opened, only to be slammed shut and relocked.

“Tried that.”

“Fuck off.”

“Tried to tell you.”

“Why’d they put us in here?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Untie me.”

* * *

“Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred. Pleasure doing business with you, Stark.”

“Team Gay Grandparents!”

“Tony, that’s weird.”

“Team StarBucks!”

“Tony.”

“Team Stucky.”

“Tony-“

“I won’t settle for anything less, Bruce.”

“Okay, I’m leaving. Stark, don’t let them leave. Bye, Bruce!”

“Bye, Natasha.”

* * *

“Why did you choose Sam?”

“What do you mean?”

They’d been in there for an hour, and school was over, so they could be there all night depending on how the door slam system worked, and whether or not it would ever be disabled.

“Of all the guys, why him?”

“I don’t know… I- Didn’t you ask me about this the other day?”

“Why him?”

Bucky had his legs tucked up, his back to the door. Steve sat opposite him, his legs stretching out either side of him, too long and huge to go anywhere else.

“I… I don’t know? I liked him as a friend and then a couple weeks after Peggy broke up with me he asked me out… He’s good looking, I mean, you wouldn’t see it from more than an appreciative sort of sense-“

“So, if someone else who you really liked as a friend told you that they liked you, you’d be cool with it?”

“Probably,” Steve chuckled, “What? Is Thor madly in love with me?”

“Look, Steve, you should probably know that I’m gay.”

“Wait, what?” Steve looked at him, but he was avoiding eye contact.

“I used to go out with girls ‘cause I thought no one’d wanna be my friend if they knew… that was years ago… and I love Natalia and all, but I just… I’m gay but sometimes I like girls, like, I like Natalia, but I like guys, like, I _like_ guys. More than most girls. So I wouldn’t really say bisexual. Gay.”

“Well, I’m happy for you Buck-“

“And I’m really fucking gay for you.”

“-It’s not easy to come out- Wait, what?”

“I’m gay for you.”

“What the-?!”

“And it’s not the body, though that is great, obviously. It’s everything. I fucking wanted you when you were tiny and I still want you now.”

“Why did you never-?!”

“You were straight as fuck, Steve!”

“I never had a girlfriend, Buck!”

“Wait-“

“You’re an idiot!”

“You’re the fucking idiot, Rogers!”

* * *

Natasha reported back to Tony with several minutes of making out before she had to cut in and stop it because they were on school grounds and that’s fucked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I hope this all makes sense? It's so Stucky-y this chapter omg. I didn't want to delve into next chapter's Clintasha drama so I decided to go more Stucky which I hope you guys like!
> 
> Unbeta'd so sorry for my mistakes.
> 
> Please comment, bookmark, kudos if you enjoyed it!
> 
> Follow me on tumblr: aliahnovna.co.vu

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this chapter is shitty, I get that, but I'm only introducing everything right now! 
> 
> Unbeta'd!
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos and everything if you like it! Thanks a lot!
> 
> Title by: Dead Hearts - Stars


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